What's the best and easiest way to remove stains from unfinished,
by
Louise
+10
30-yr-old oak table top? When this was purchased years ago, my then-husband sanded the whole table to a super smooth finish and put tongue oil on all of it. Sadly, the top cracked soon afterwards and we replaced it with another unfinished top. So for all these years, it still hasn't been sanded and stained and in the meantime, even though it was covered with various tablecloth kinds of things, it got some stains on it -- mostly from cats over the years throwing up on it. I know, I know, that's nasty, but that's the situation. So now I plan to finally stain it -- a very deep red at the moment, but I might change my mind -- and I need to remove these stains. Someone told me to use bleach but I've read that bleach will raise the grain. After it's stained, I'll put a glass top on it so it will be protected. Ideas?
Sand the table top again.
lighter fluid
The stains don't seem that dark but pictures can be deceiving. Raised grain is not a serious problem and is corrected with just a light sanding to smooth it out with the rest of the surface. Bleach or other water based cleaner will probably work. If the top is plywood go easy on the sanding so you don't sand through the very thin veneer. Lightly use 150 grit sandpaper and finish with 220 grit. If solid wood top you won't have to worry about sanding too much. Good luck.
What kind of wood is it? Looks like plywood. You gave plenty of information about the table, but I think it needs sanding again if that's possible. Cover it with a stain, dry completely. Use Wilbert's lemon oil, to keep it from drying out.
i would still try to bleach the wood. If stains remain after that, just treat them as natural imperfections in the wood. And keep the cats off the dining room table, even it means they get cage-trained. 😇💖
I wouldn't worry about it; just go ahead with staining. All wood has some stains or quirky marks on it so these will probably blend in after you do your project.
Sand it, paint it, put the glass on it.
Paint it, stain it, put glass over it.